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Japanese tug boat scrapes US Navy ship during exercise/node/1195486/world

Japanese tug boat scrapes US Navy ship during exercise

Associated Press|Published — Saturday 18 November 2017

In this Aug. 8, 2016, file photo, the guided missile destroyer USS Benfold arrives at port in Qingdao, China. According to the US Navy 7th Fleet, a Japanese tug boat lost propulsion and drifted into the USS Benfold during a towing exercise in Sagami Bay on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Borg Wong, File)

TOKYO: The US Navy says a Japanese tug boat lost propulsion and drifted into an American guided-missile destroyer during a towing exercise.The Navy said in a statement that the USS Benfold sustained minimal damage during Saturday’s incident, including scrapes on its side. No one was injured on either vessel. The commercial tug boat was being towed to a port in Yokosuka, the home of the Navy’s Japan-based 7th Fleet.The collision occurred in Sagami Bay. The Benfold remained at sea under its own power, and the Navy said that the incident would be investigated.The 7th Fleet has had two fatal accidents in Asian waters this year in which Navy warships and commercial ships collided at sea. The incidents prompted dismissals of Navy commanders.